topic Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid in .NET Maps SDK Questions

Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

sgn_GSI — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 14:55:23 GMT

Hello,

After creating a new instance of the ArcGISPortal class, is there a way to check if the connection is still valid? I see that I could check the ExpirationDate of the Credentials. However, that does not help for checking for the scenarios where the user's internet connection drops out or the server hosting their ArcGIS Enterprise is down. Thank you very much for your time.

Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

JoeHershman — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 20:19:28 GMT

I basically just ping the portal and see if I get a response. I have this run in the background and it sets a flag that I check before doing something that requires a connection

public override async Task<bool> CheckIsConnectedAsync() { try { var tokenUri = new Uri($"{ConnectionUrl}/sharing/rest?f=json"); HttpClient client = new HttpClient { Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(7) }; var result = await client.GetStringAsync(tokenUri); var jsonObject = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, object>>(result); //just something I know is in the return json return jsonObject.ContainsKey("currentVersion"); } catch ( TaskCanceledException ) { //timeout - server down return false; } catch ( Exception ) { //Can connect but server not fully up and running return false; } }

Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

sgn_GSI — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 12:45:18 GMT

Thank you very much for your time. Unfortunately, it does not seem that pinging the server would be a viable solution. Most servers, by default, are configured to deny ICMP echo requests when a server is pinged. Configuring the servers to allow a response to be sent back could pose a security risk.

Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

JoeHershman — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 15:35:17 GMT

I did not mean ping in the literal sense of sending an ICMP request. It was just meant in a generic way, as send a request to the server and see if you get a response from the server.

If you look at the code sample it shows that a standard request over 443 is being sent. The same as any request that is being sent to portal. Just it requests a very generic reply which can be checked or you can see if it times out instead of getting a reply. In my case I have this run continuously in the background. This way prior to doing any operation that requires a connection there is confirmation that a connection to the portal is available.

Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

MichaelBranscomb — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 00:58:48 GMT

To find out when the network status changes (and then use an approach like @JoeHershman's) you might be able to use something like the NetworkChange.NetworkAvailabilityChanged Event.

Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

JoeHershman — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 17:39:02 GMT

For internet/cell connectivity I use the Xamarin.Essentials library Connectivity object

Connectivity.ConnectivityChanged += OnConnectivityChanged;

Re: Check If Portal Connection Is Valid

sgn_GSI — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 16:58:38 GMT

That is a solution that works for me. Thank you very much for your time.